PetSmart Background Check Missed a Deranged Gerbil

Nick Fishman

November 29, 2012

You can’t be too careful when it comes to employee background checks these days. Just yesterday, The Onion reported that a PetSmart background check gave a gerbil their stamp of approval with a clean record. Shortly after it was sold to its Los Angeles family, it became immediately apparent that this gerbil was not fit to live in a home. His behaviors included hoarding pellets, maniacally shredding wood chips, and hiding in dark holes, according to the family. This mishap is clearly the result of a faulty background check.

PetSmart handled the situation well, quickly recovering the gerbil from the family after they began to notice this hazardous behavior. PetSmart assured the media that each animal they sell must pass a thorough background check including a criminal, credit, and social media use background check. Thankfully this was the first incident in almost ten years at PetSmart, with the last being in 2003 with the sale of a suicidal goldfish. Never fear pet owners, you should be safe with your future pet purchases, with the assurance that PetSmart won’t let this happen again.

Nick Fishman is the co-founder of EmployeeScreenIQ, a leading, global employment background screening provider, and serves as the company’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. He pioneered the creation of EmployeeScreen University, the #1 educational resource on employment background checks for human resources, security and risk management professionals. A recognized industry expert, Nick is a frequent author, presenter and contributor to the news media. Nick is also a licensed private investigator in the states of Ohio and Texas.